Shuann Chai - Extemporize (2024) [Official Digital Download]

Schubert's Impromptus are not without their quirks and curiosities, and Shuann Chai used this recording as an opportunity to delve deeper into them. In doing so she was also introduced to the two delightful Fugues (D 24a and D 24c ) that accompany the impromptus on this album.

Schubert's Impromptus drew Shuann Chai in because they are full of contradictions. An 'impromptu' suggests a piece that's light in character, not too dramatic, not very long - the opposite of, say, a sonata in four movements. While these Impromptus are musically very approachable, they are also powerful, often quite dark, deep, and pianistically challenging. Also, the suggested element of improvisation is interwoven with a feeling of narrative. There are certainly moments of capriciousness or surprising modulations throughout, but the pieces themselves are very formally organized, much more prescribed than what one would expect, say, in a 'fantasy'. What intrigued her was this tension between spontaneity and structure, a paradox which Schubert exploits and expands to great dramatic effect.

This paradox can also be found in the Fugues on this album. Fugues and Impromptus are at first sight to very different forms of music: they are constructed in almost diametrically opposite ways, but artistically speaking, they are two sides of the same coin. Schubert's fugues are searching for the freedom within their strict contrapuntal framework, and his Impromptus are works of imagination and great expression that are grounded by their formal architecture.

TRACKLIST

1. Shuann Chai - Four Impromptus, D 899, Op. 90, No. 1 in C minor: Allegro molto moderato
2. Shuann Chai - Four Impromptus, D 899, Op. 90, No. 2 in E-flat major: Allegro
3. Shuann Chai - Four Impromptus, D 899, Op. 90, No. 3 in G-flat major: Andante
4. Shuann Chai - Four Impromptus, D 899, Op. 90, No. 4 in A-flat major: Allegretto
5. Shuann Chai - Fugue in D minor, D 24c
6. Shuann Chai - Fugue in C major, D 24a
7. Shuann Chai - Four Impromptus, D 935, Op. 142, No. 1 in F minor: Allegro moderato
8. Shuann Chai - Four Impromptus, D 935, Op. 142, No. 2 in A-flat major: Allegretto
9. Shuann Chai - Four Impromptus, D 935, Op. 142, No. 3 in B-flat major: Theme (Andante) with variations
10. Shuann Chai - Four Impromptus, D 935, Op. 142, No. 4 in F minor: Allegro scherzando



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